Repurpose Story

This is an old hutch that we purchased a few years ago for fifty bucks. We had planned to refinish it in black and then sell it. It was quite simple with alot of straight lines.

Once it was complete we stood back and decided that this hutch would be a great entertainment center for our first flat screen tv that we got for Christmas. So Mike went to work on pulling off the doors and building a small platform for the tv to sit on as wellas a few cubbies for our dvr player and cable box.

We got some great use out of it. The above picture was taken in our old home. The next year we were itching for a flat screen for our main floor and found an old buffet that we finished in white. And it worked great for the space we had.

Then this past summer we moved and our new home had many different dimensions and so we needed to adjust. We have a huge wall with tall ceilings and putting the flat screen on just the buffet was no longer going to work. The proportions were not right any more. So we took the top piece of the old hutch and painted it from black to white and put it on the buffet.

And I think it all came together nicely over the last couple of years!

The Hill Family Desk - Custom Refinish Before & After

We have made some wonderful friends through our blog and through our furniture. The Hill family is just such a family. They brought us this old school desk that had been painted red at some point in time but needed a nice face lift to turn it into an elegant keepsake. This piece has many memories so a restoration was on the menu.

It cleaned up nicely if I do say so myself. The sharp black against the restored wood surface adds a nice touch. It looks like we still have our Christmas wreaths up in the pictures but this is not true friends. What is true is that I am playing catch up. Through my lack of posting it appears that The Frosted Gardner painting as slowed down but oh so not true. I have a list of completed pieces that include a few of our own projects as well as custom projects that include a few chandeliers, a red armoire, a few tables, and my sister-in-law's working table she uses in her quilting studio. Thanks for being patient as I dig out of my hole!

Paper Princess Castle

Every princess needs a castle. And we have a bunch of little squinky princesses that need a castle so this is what Faith and I came up with to suit their needs. Below is the front view and just beyond that is the back view. It is a fully functioning castle on ALL sides.

My favorite feature is the clock that Faith made. I think it is simply perfect.

The Sconces

The before and after pictures of our sconces have been a long time coming. It seems that when I go to grab the camera to snap some pictures I get distracted and end up playing with the Tangled Tower or some other miniature character. Nonetheless I think that these lights were one of my favorite projects from last year. And maybe it is because it happened by accident. We had purchased two chandeliers from a sweet lady and she said she would throw in the sconces for free. Once I saw them and thought about it I had a really fun place for them. And because my handy man Mike is so handy he rewired everything so they really worked! This was no easy task as he spent quite a bit of time up in the attic crawling through beams with a head lamp.

Have you seen the new leather bound classics at Barnes and Noble? Oh goodness they are so wonderful! I picked up a set for my Mom for Christmas and showed them to Mike. On Christmas Eve we watched her open them and had fun examining each book and talking about all of the intricate details. Little did I know that I had a set waiting for me at home under the tree. Thanks to my sweetie I now have a set of my own and I adore them and will always treasure them and hope to continue to add to our collection.

I have some 2012 projects which includes changing up a few things in our master bedroom. There are some bare walls and it has never felt quite complete to me. It is a bit of a funny shape so I have to make all sorts of considerations in my planning.

Happy Thursday.

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The holidays came and went and I have had quite the time keeping up with everything and before I knew it I was behind nearly a month on this ole blog. Faith and I battled a flu bug for three weeks. Three weeks I tell ya!!! My energy was zapped and the symptoms just lingered and lingered. Finally we are back healthy and happy and I am excited to share a few projects we have going as well as a fun find.

When it came time to take our Christmas tree down there seemed to be a few sad faces around the house so we decided to make a Valentine banner to cheer everyone up! These are so fun and easy and it is certainly a fun project to do with the kids which makes it even more worthwhile!

Next up we found these arched windows that I envisioned above our front door. We have a few archways in our home so I think these arched windows will work swimmingly!

Next up I found these old vintage plates and was drawn to the colors. I think it was the black that popped. These are sitting in my chippy old plate holder in my kitchen. I am so happy I found them!

I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and are ready for the new year! Thanks for stopping by friends!

The Gardner Antique Fireplace Mantel and O'Christmas Tree

Our Christmas tree is up and I am now revealing the antique fireplace mantel we are currently using in our sitting room. I have just fallen in love with it. This along with all of our new chandeliers and sconces have been my favorite projects we have completed since moving into our new home. Mike stripped it and restained it in an M L Campbell Woodsong II oil based stain in the Espresso color. I think that color is rich and we had hoped would match our wood floors and I think it is a near perfect match.

You know the times when you buy something and you just know that you are going to love it forever and ever. And you know everytime you see it you will think to yourself I am so glad I bought this. Well this is how I feel about this Christmas skirt. I think it might be the rich velvet against the satin fabric.

No Christmas decor would be complete without wreaths from greenery and little snowmen dancing around a Christmas tree. I so debated putting these delicate little things out this year. I looked at them and then I looked at our four year old. I bet I did that three times and told myself I will just tell her not to touch them. Well I regret to say that the little one with the shovel has been broken twice since. I think she learned once I glued the nose back on because it has not been touched since. She stands there and looks at them but I have not seen it anywhere but next to that little Christmas tree.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We have a Christmas party along with an appointment with a good friend to talk about a few chandeliers for her. And I just adore chandeliers. :)